Pipe spear



C. L. CRUTCHER.

' PIPE sPEAn. APPLI`CATIO-N FILED DEC-13| |920.

Patented June 6, 1922.

avi/umm CMRMQEZ. 63117101122.

CLARENCE n cnU'reiiEii, or roit'r wortrir, TEXAS.

ries.v i

PIPE srEAia.

Specification of Letters Patent. v Patented June 6, 1922 Application filed December 13, 1920. Serial No. 430,172.

To `ill whom t may concern i Be it known that I, CLARENCE L. CRUTCHER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Forty l/Vorth, in the county of Tarrant and State of T eXas,'have invented certain new and usefulY Improvements in Pipe Spears, of which the followthe casing by a Aresilientl memberV upon a. slight downward movement olf-the arborto permit the spear to be readily removed from the casing at the end of an operation, thus saving a: substantial amount of time and materially reducing the labor of the operator. the gripping portions of the slip are forced into lifting association with the casing upon an upward movement of the tapered arbor in a manner which isapparent to all those f skilledin the art. l l y adapted upon the vlifting of the arborto force the gripping portions thereof intof Contact with the casing in `view of the fact` that the lower end of the arbor gradually in- .y creases in diameter and thus throws the' gripping fingers ofv the slip outwardly. as

the same is lifted. The slip prior tolbeing placed within the casing is drawn to a -predetermined position with. respect 'to the alfd bor by a suitable tool, compressing a coil" spring encircling the arbor.4 and resting at7 oneend upon a shoulder thereon and at-its opposite end bearing against theupper' por-` tion or collar of the slip, the spring being retained in its compressed condition :by means of a pivoted dog so that no influence is exerted upon the slip at this time. AfterV this initial adjustment of the slip,'the spear isthen inserted within the casing untilthe pipe gripping fingers contact with the linner y Wallsy thereof, and thence a slight upward" It will of course be understood that movement ofthe arbor will force the yieldable pipe gripping fingers of the slip outwardly to binding `ContactY with the casing after which the casing may be raised or loweredas desired.` When the arbor is raised thepivoted dog that, is adapted tok hold the spring compressed upon the initial adjustment of the slip is released by the `upper end 'or collar ofthe slip, and after the completion of an operationaiid when it is de- .sired to withdraw the spear from the casing it is merely necessary to` give the arbor a slight downwardthrust, so that the .yieldable grippingV fingers ofthe slip will re `the saine over the decreasing portion of the arbor, towards its outer end to permit the i spear to be readily withdrawn from the casing.

ln the drawings the preferred embodimentv of the invention is illustrated, but it will of course be understood that many changes may be made without departingfrom the spirit thereofy .In the drawings:

Figure l isa side elevation of the imthe arbor and slip, showing the slip in a released condition. -Figis a vertical section of the arbor and slip, showing the slip as initially set. Fig. L is a horizontal section of the slip and arbor, taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig.v 5 a side-elevationy of a bit at right angles to thebit as shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is an inverted plan view of the saine.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts the numeral l designates the arbor of the spear having a lower portion gradually increasing in diam- 'eter'towards its end so asto provide a tap-v ered exterior surface against which a suitpor'tion'goftloe varbor above thel collar is of substantially a uniform width for' a purpose Vwhich will; hereinafter appear. The arbor is preferably hollow and has attached thereto yat its end a suitable bit 3 of any deproved pipe spear located in a section of well casing. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectionof .able pipegrippinggslip is adapted 'teresa The arborlintermediate its ends is provided ,with circumferential collar2, and that sired construction to permit the insertion of Vliquid through the hollow interior 'of the arbor to the casing.

Surrounding the, arbor and adapted to normally occupy the position disclosed in Figure l is the slip 6 having a collar portion 7 preferably of integral formation and adapted to surround the upper portion of the arbor which is of uniform diameter from the shoulder to its upper end to permit the collar to be raised and lowered over this portion of the arbor without fany'wedging or binding action.v The slip 6 is also provided with a plurality of pipe gripping lingers 8, spaced from each other byh'slot'svQ, so that the fingers are somewhat yieldable when the same is moved upv or downj fr either throwing theV gripping fingers into binding contact with the inner wall of the casing, or to allow the `fingers to recede to followy the converging sur-face of the arbor. yThe slip 7 at its upper end provides an abutment or stop for the outer'end of the coil spring 5, and when the slip'is moved downwardly or the 4arbor raised the coil spring which rests at its opposite end upon the circumferential shoulder 2 of the arbor' is compressed. The slip is drawn downwardly upon the arbor by means of a suitable tool whereby the same is initially placed in a set- Yposition and the structure of the tool will be 'hereinafter described. To 'retain the spring in its compressed condition a suitable dog 9 is pivo'tally mounted upon the arbor at its upper end `and has a nose portion extending through the wall in the arbor and adapted when 'the slip isl forced downwardly to engage the upper end of the coil spring and prevent the spring from eX- erting any stress upon the collar portion of the slip which would tend to push the same upwardly upon the arbor, it 'of course being understood that the dog holds the spring :in

its compressed condition. The dog 9 i'snormally maintained in an inoperative position by the coil spring 10, disposed within the hollow interior of the'arbor, but when the slip is set into position as designated in Figure 3 the dog is shifted andthe nose'thereof engages the upper end of the spring. to

retain the same compressed and prevent 'the spring from bearingupon the collar of' the Y f by which a 'casing vcan be easily raised or Any suitable means may be employed for' slip.

ing through the slotted Vportions of the slip and engaging the upper endof the coil I spring 5. The base ofthe tool has a thread.

edV socket therein receiving the shank '13,

. upon which is fitted a collar i4 bearing against the lower end. of the arbor and when the shank is rotated by a suitable handleV theV slip is drawn downwardly compressing the spring 5. When the slip has reached a predetermined position with reference to the arbor the dog 9 is thrown into position as shown in Figure 3 to engage the upper end of the spring and prevent the same from bearing against the collar of the slip.

After this initial adjustment of the parts of the spear the setting tool is removed and the spear inserted within the casing so that the pipe gripping portions of Ithe slip contact with the walls thereof. A slight upward movement of the arbor will then cause the "pipe grippingv portions 8 of the slip to p y U y vbe forced outwardly by the diverging porand follow the tapered surface of Vthearb'or tio'n of the arbor, which action will also cause the Ycollar ofthe slip to release the dog 9 by forcing the beveled nosey thereof inwardly, and the collar vof the slip will then a'c't asa rstop for the outer end 'of the spring 5 which tends to force the slip upwardly. However, 'at the time when the trip is released the gripping portions fof lthe spear have been thrown into biting contact with the casing and the expanding influence of the spring will cause no material effect on the same, as the connection between 'the slip slip by its expanding action, so that the o spear may be readily withdrawn from the casing. It will be understood that during the raising of the slip by the coil spring theV pipegripping fingers thereof follow the converging surface of the arbor and are comipletely withdrawn from the casing. The lat`ch`9 that is located within the hollow interior of the arbor may be shifted so as to throw the same into an operative position in anysu'i'table manner, such for instance as inserting a to'ol within the hollow portion of y'the 'arbor to shift the latch into the position asv 'shown in Figure@ Fromithe foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a simple and .efficient device lowered, and the arrangement and' construction of the parts of the device permit the same to beinstan'tly removed from the casingv at the end of an operation by simply giving.`the arbor a slight downward thrust to permit the compressed spring interposedV between the arbor and the slip to exert' its influence on the slip and raise the same to throw the gripping' linger in contact with thecasing.

The slips may be used either 'on a stand- 13o ard or rotary arbor which may be solid or hollow. Various changes in the sizes, construction, proportions, and arrangement may be made without departing from my invention. v

What I claim is:

l. A pipe spear comprising an arbor having a tapering lower portion, a slip mounted thereon, a yieldable member interposed between the arbor and slip and a trip for holding said yieldable member in a compressed condition when the slipis set upon the arbor, the pipe gripping portion of the slip being forced into Contact with the casing and the trip released upon an upward movement of the arbor by the diverging surfaces thereof, the said spear being removed from the casing upon a slight downward thrust of the arbor to withdraw the Slip from biting contact with the casing and permit the yieldable mem'berto expand to lift said slip.

2. A pipe spear comprising an arbor having a tapering lower portion, a slip mounted thereon, a yieldable member interposed between the arbor and slip, and a trip for holding said yieldable member in a compressed condition when the slip is set upon the arbor, the pipe gripping portion of the slip being forced into Contact with the casing and the trip released upon an upward movement of the arbor by the diverging surfaces thereof, the said spear being removed from the casing upon a slight downward thrust of the arbor to withdraw the slip from biting contact with the casing and permit the yieldable member to expandv to lift said slip, the said yieldable member comprising a coil spring resting upon a collar surrounding the arbor at one end and bearing at its opposite end against the upper portion of the slip.

3. A pipe spear comprising an arbor having a tapering portion, a slip slidably mounted thereon a yieldable member inter- `mally occupying `an inoperative position adapted to vbeshifted to engage the 'upper end of said yieldable member to hold .the saine compressed and prevent the spring from exerting any influence upon the slip when the slip is in a set position, the gripping portion of the slip being forced into biting contact with the casing andthe rooking trip released upona lifting of the arbor, the spear being removed from the casing by a slight downward thrust of the arbor to withdraw the gripping portion of the slip fromV biting contact with the casing and permit the yieldable member to expand and bear against a portion of the slip to raise the same.

4. A pipe spear comprising an arbor havplurality of downwardly extending sepa-iy rated gripping ngers, a coil spring interposed between the arbor Vand slip,a trip mounted on the arbor for holding the spring compressed when the slip is placed in a set position toprevent the spring from having any influence uponvthe slip, the said trip,v

having a nose portion disposed within the path of travel of the slip, the gripping ing'- ers of the slip being forced into contact with the casing and the trip released by a portion p of the said slip contacting with the nose of the trip upon an upward movement of the arbor, the said spear being removed from the casing by a downward thrust of the arbor to withdraw the ngers from biting contact with the casing and permit the coil spring to expand to raise the slip.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature. l

CLARENCE L. CRUTCHER. 

